Method for winding chain link fencing



Oct. 6, 1970 M. VERSTRAETE METHOD FOR WINDING CHAIN LINK FENCING 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Sept. 19, 1966 INVENTO Him-cal Veryk '8 Oct. 6, 1970 M. VERSTRAETE 3,532,281

METHOD FOR WINDING CHAIN LINK FENCING Original Filed Sept. 19} 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Hm L Vsnsrnnns Oct. 6, 1970 M- VERSTRAETE METHOD FOR WINDING CHAIN LINK FENCING Original Filed Sept. 19, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet &

INVENTOR flv/Pca lwrrem: BY

ATTORNEYS United States Patent O METHOD FOR WINDING CHAIN LINK FENCING Marcel Verstraete, Thorpe End, England, assignor to Trefileries Leon Bekaert, PVBA, Zwevegem, Belgium, a corporation of Belgium Original application Sept. 19, 1966, Ser. No. 580,424, now Patent No. 3,450,360, dated June 17, 1969. Divided and this application Feb. 19, 1969, Ser. No. 800,593

Int. Cl. B65h 75/00 U.S. Cl. 242-55 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method for compressing chain link fencing by feeding the fencing onto a moving support at a feed speed exceeding the speed of the support. The compressed fencing is wound into a roll on the moving support, and the completed roll is removed or ejected from the support.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This application is a division of copending application Ser. No. 580,424, filed Sept. 19, 1966, now Pat. No. 3,450,360.

In the winding of fencing into rolls for storage and shipment, it is of advantage and desirable to reduce the bulk of the rolls through increase in the density of. the rolls. In this manner a given amount or length of fencing is packaged within a smaller volume which makes it easier to handle the roll for shipment and by the consumer. The reduced volume, furthermore, results in savings and economy associated with the storage and transportation of the rolled fencing.

A reduction in the total length of the rolled-up fencing is made possible by compressing the chain links in the longitudinal direction of the fencing and thereby condense the total length of the resulting roll. Such longitudinal compression is achieved through the inherent feature that each successive row of links in a chain link fence can be pushed closer to an adjacent row so as to reduce the length of the fencing without increasing its thickness. This compression can be effected by hand manipulation in the process of winding up or by machine. Hand manipulation, however, is dilficult and may produce imperfect results.

The present invention resides in an improved method of winding up chain link fencing through compression of the fencing. This is effected, according to the invention, by mechanically feeding the fencing onto a travelling support and controlling the speed of the support in relation to the speed at which the fencing is fed towards the support so as to compress the fencing in the longitudinal direction and thereby wind it up into a condensed roll.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of winding up chain link fencing.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide for winding up chain link fencing by mechanically feeding the fencing onto a travelling support and controlling the speed of the support in relation to the speed at which the fencing is fed towards the support so as to compress the fencing in longitudinal direction and thereby wind it up into a condensed roll.

Various further and more specific purposes, features and advantages will clearly appear from the detailed description given below taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which form part of this specification and illustrate merely by way of example one embodiment by which the method of the invention may be carried out.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A method for winding chain link fencing into a conice densed roll. A support in the form of, for example, endless bands, is moved at a predetermined speed. The uncondensed fencing is fed onto the moving support at a feed speed which exceeds the speed of the support. Due to the difference between the two speeds, each row of chain links is pushed closer to the adjacent row, and as a result the total or overall length of the fencing is reduced. The moving support also includes a curved portion along its path of motion. This curved portion is concave-shaped, and the condensed fencing winds into a roll within this concave-shaped portion of the moving support. The wound-up roll may be removed through overhead hoists or by ejecting the roll from the support. When the latter method is chosen, the concave-shaped portion may be reduced or eliminated momentarily so that the completed roll is no longer seated or held within a curved portion of the moving path. Once this curved portion is reduced or eliminated, the completed roll is inherently ejected from the moving support.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the following description and the claims, parts will be identified by specific names for convenience, but such names are intended to be as generic in their application to similar parts as the art will permit. Like reference characters denote like parts in the several figures of the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of an exemplary arrangement by which the method of the invention may be carried out;

FIG. 2 is a section taken on the line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a method of feeding chain link fencing to the arrangement of FIG. 1, from a supply roll;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic side view drawn to a smaller scale than FIG. 3, looking at the arrangement from the opposite side and showing a method of feeding chain link fencing to the winding up arrangement straight from a machine in which the chain link fencing is made;

FIG. 5 is a representation of a portion of chain link fencing in its normal expanded state;

FIG. 6 is a corresponding representation showing the result of compressing the chain link fencing in the longitudinal direction;

FIG. 7 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 but showing a modified discharging arrangement;

FIG. 8 shows in isometric projection a compacted roll of link fencing resulting from the method according to the invention; and

FIG. 9 is a detail of the upper layer of the roll shown in FIG. 8.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawing which illustrates an exemplary embodiment for carrying out the method of the present invention, a number of endless bands 1 are mounted side by side with each having an upper run 2 extending between front and rear supporting rollers 3 and 4, each band having a considerable amount of slack so that its upper run 2 can sag downward-s between the rollers 3 and 4 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The location of roller 3 is adjustable according to the diameter required in the formally compressed roll. Each band passes over the front and rear supporting rollers 3 and 4 and also passes round guide rollers 5 and 6 which keep the return or lower run of the band out of the way of the upper run 2, however far down the upper run sags. Roll 5 is also adjustable to increase or decrease the slack of bands 1 according to the diameter required for the compressed roll. The bands 1 are made of very flexible but if the width of the fencing to be rolled up is not too great. For wider fencing of different widths it is advantageous to have a number of bands which may be of different widths, mounted side by side as shown so as to leave gaps 7 (FIG. 1) at each end of the roll to accommodate guides for controlling the ends of the compressed roll.

As an alternative for accommodating wider fencing the machine may be constructed in a manner such that the bands are readily interchangeable, the chosen band width being that appropriate to the fence width.

A feed roller 8 mounted above the rear supporting roller 4 is provided for feeding the chain link fencing onto the upper runs of the bands 1. This feed roller is provided with projecting pins or teeth 9 designed to engage the links of the chain link fencing so as to drive it positively as the roller 8 rotates, each pin being bent in the backward direction as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 so as to facilitate disengagement of the pins as the fencing leaves the roller. A further guide roller is arranged in the path of the fencing as it moves from the feed roller 8 into the trough formed by the upper runs 2 of the endless bands 1. The roller 10 is provided with collars 11 for guiding the edges of the chain link fencing. The collars 11 are adjustable along the length of the roller 10 so that they can be set to suit the width and number or rolls of chain link. Another guide roller 12 similar to the guide roller 10 and having similar collars 14 is arranged to guide the chain link fencing onto the feed roller 8.

The front supporting roller 3 and the guide rollers 5, 6, 10 and 12 are all freely rotatable, but the feed roller 8 and rear supporting roller 4 are both mechanically driven, the supporting roller 4 being driven at a smaller peripheral speed than the feed roller 8 by transmitting the rotation of the feed roller to the supporting roller through a speed-reducing transmission gearing 15. The speed reduction due to the gearing 15 is chosen so as to obtain a desired degree of longitudinal compression of the fencing without unduly crowding the links together. For normal chain link fencing a speed reduction of somewhat less than 50% is suitable.

The chain link fencing may be supplied to the feed roller 8 from a roll 16 supported on a roller cradle 17 having freely rotatable rollers 18 which allow the roll 16 to rotate freely while supported thereon. The fencing is passed over the guide roller 12 and onto the feed roller 8 which thereupon feeds it toward the upper runs of the bands 1 where they sag downward between the supporting rollers 3 and 4. On leaving the feed roller 8, the chain link fencing passes downwards in front of the guide roller 10 and between the collars 11 and is received by the upper runs 2 of the endless bands 1 which automatically wind it into a roll thereon as indicated at 180 in FIG. 3.

When the fencing leaves the feed roller 8 it is in the normal expanded condition depicted in FIG. 5. When it is received by the endless bands 1 it suffers a reduction in speed which compresses it in the direction of its length so that adjacent rows of links and (FIGS. 5 and 6) are pushed together as shown in FIG. 6 and the material is thus condensed. At the same time, it is rolled up by the action of the sagging upper runs of the endless bands 1 which adapt themselves to the increasing diameter of the roll 180 up to a limit which depends upon the capacity of the machine.

To finish the roll, the last layer is stretched to its normal expanded length and tied with wire so that it forms a tight skin round the roll. The roll is lifted from the endless bands 1 and discharged from the machine by means of mechanical hoists such as that shown at 19 in FIGS. 1 and 2. Alternatively the roll can be lifted by an overhead pulley block.

Instead of being supplied from a roll 16 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the chain link fencing may be fed direct from a chain link fence-making machine. This is illustrated in FIG. 4 in which the structure shown at 20 represents the chain link fence-making machine and 8 is a feed-roller corresponding to the feed-roller 8 of FIGS.

1, 2 and 3.

The machine 20 incorporates a pin roller 23 which is similar to feed roller 8 and by means of which the fencing is drawn from the machine. The machine also incorporates another roller 24 having an automatic device for causing the startin and stopping of pin roller 23. To regulate the feeding action of the feed roller 8 in accordance with the rate of operation of the fence-making machine 20, a tensioning roller 21 is arranged so that it moves under the control of a spring or weight to whatever extent is necessary to take up slack in the length of fencing extending from the delivery end of the machine 20 to the feed roller 8. The movement of the tensioning roller 21 operates an automatic control mechanism which drives the feed roller 8 intermittently so that it starts to operate whenever the amount of slack taken up reaches a predetermined maximum and to stop the feed roller when the amount of slack falls to a predetermined minimum.

The winding up machine of FIG. 4 is generally similar to that shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 but in most cases has only one guide roller 22 instead of the two guide rollers 5 and 6 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. The finished roll of chain link fencing is tied with wire and lifted off the travelling band-s 1 by means of hoists 19 or an overhead pulley block in the same way as has been described with reference to FIG. 1.

The machine can be used to Wind more than one roll at once for example, by feeding separate rolls onto each band of a multi-band type of machine.

FIG. 7 shows an alternative arrangement in which a tensioning roller is arranged so that it can be moved from an inoperative position ar to an operative position arl in which it tensions the bands 1 and thereby lifts the finished roll 180 to a position from which it can easily be rolled onto a truck without any further lifting.

When the fencing is wound into a roll in the extended state, it is obvious that a certain length of fencing can only be wound because otherwise the diameter of the roll would become too large for being shipped and handled. When, however, the rows of chain links, each row composed of component zig-zag wires or links a and b, are telescopingly condensed or shoved together, such as shown in FIG. 6, it is obivous that such condensed wire mesh will take up much less space, and when this condensed wire mesh is wound into roll 180, such roll constitutes a very compact product in which a maximum amount of units of length of fencing is put together in a minimum of space whereby the weight of such a compact roll will only constitute the limit of the eventual outside diameter thereof. Thus, bringing the links of each successive row of links closer together reduces the diameter of the roll for a given length of normally stretched fencing (FIG. 5), or stated differently, permits a greater number of layers to be wound on the roll without increasing the thickness of a comparable roll containing the same fencing in normally expanded condition. The roll in finished form preferably has its last or upper layer 180:: stretched to its normal expanded length (FIG. 9) and may be tied with wire w so that it forms a tight skin round the roll.

It will be apparent that the modes of application of the improvements as hereinabove described and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings have been given solely by way of non-limitative example and that any and all detail modifications can be made therein without consequently departing either from the scope or the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A method for winding chain link fencing into a roll comprising the steps of moving a support at a predetermined support speed; feeding said chain link fencing onto said moving support at a feed speed exceeding said predetermined support speed; compressing said chain link fencing in the direction of said speed, said compression of said chain link fencing occurring through the difference between said feed speed and said support speed; and winding of the compressed chain link fencing into a roll on said moving support so that said roll is a roll of compressed chain link fencing.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 including the step of imparting curvature to the path of said moving support.

3. The method as defined in claim 1 including the step of imparting curvature to the path of said moving support and forming thereby a concave surface in said path, said chain link fencing being fed into said concave surface at a speed exceeding the surface speed of said concave surface in said path.

4. The method as defined in claim 3 wherein said concave surface has two sides joined by a concave-shaped portion, one of said sides having a velocity directed toward said concave-shaped portion and the other one of said sides having a velocity directed away from. said concave-shaped portion, said fencing being fed onto said side having a velocity directed toward said concave-shaped portion so that said roll forms within said concave-shaped portion.

5. The method as defined in claim 1 including the step of removing the roll of compressed chain link fencing.

6. The method as defined in claim 1 including the step of unreeling a roll of uncompressed chain link fencing for feeding said fencing onto said moving support.

7. The method as defined in claim 1 including the step of transferring uncompressed chain link fencing from the manufacturing source for feeding onto said moving support.

8. The method as defined in claim 4 including the step of reducing the length of said sides for ejecting the roll of compressed chain link fencing.

9. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein said moving support comprises an endless band including a loop within the path of motion.

10. The method as defined in claim 9 including the step of reducing said loop and ejecting thereby the roll of compressed chain link fencing from said moving support.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,959,418 5/1934 Fourness 242.67.1 2,057,191 10/1936 Hufiine 242-671 XR 2,092,066 9/ 1937 Haupt 242-67.l XR 2,174,411 9/1939 Baase et al. 24255.1 XR 2,830,775 4/1958 Kiesel 24266 X-R FOREIGN PATENTS 715,469 9/1954 Great Britain. 795,427 5/1958 Great Britain.

STANLEY N. GILREATH, Primary Examiner W. H. SCHROEDER, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

